Backpacking Packing

         Packing for Seasons

     A small flyer made its way into my hands in 1992. Ms Martinez, a professor of Spanish at MidAmerica Nazarene University was planning an eight-country, three-week trip to Europe. And, it was for those who were interested in learning how to backpack. "Buy a backpack and come to our first meeting."  I bought a backpack and went to the meeting. 

    Travel changed for me after that adventure, and it influenced Jim, too. In 1993, he bought a backpack and we started out simple: a backpacking trip to Canada.  We managed with little, so we considered it a great success.  Still, there was much to learn about traveling with little!  In 1994, we graduated, bought Eurailpasses, Hostel passes and backpacked for three weeks in Europe. It was getting easier because we traveled during the summer months and only had to pack for one season, the hot one.

  

  Fast forward to forty countries later, and we have upgraded from JanSport to Ospreys - Porter 46L for Jim and Fairview 40L for me. The larger the backpack, one begins to pack their fears. So we settled on perfect sizes for us and packed only the necessities. I pack like I want and Jim packs what he wants.  :)

    The biggest challenge is always shoes. Summer travel is easy - sandals and Tevas, which don't require much room inside the canvas. On several recent adventures, we faced weather and temperature changes that required enclosed shoes and several pairs of them. 

    For example, on the two pilgrimages we did in Spain and Italy, we wore our hiking boots on the plane there and packed our Altra's or Solomon's for the change.  However, we broke the rule in Patagonia. We wore the hiking boots on the plane, trail runners for there and Tevas to air our toes! 

   

     Secondly, traveling in several countries with climate differences during the trip, is challenging. We were slow learners here but eventually learned that layering is key. We can't take it all, so we have accumulated over the years a lot of merino wool clothing. They layer nicely and don't smell. Seriously! They wash easily (if they get washed) and dry out overnight. When we travel on public transportation in some countries, hands down, we blend in quite seamlessly. 

    Finally, laundering. Some countries make this easier than others. In warmer climates, we need a laundromat...just to avoid offending!  Now, in Europe, these "laundromats" are available outside supermarkets, service stations or beside phone stores (great marketing strategies...all). We take laundry sheets, pop them in and smell delicious for a day or so. If we can't find a service like this, it's laundry in a sink at night and pray the radiator heats up! Otherwise, wet clothes travel in ziplocks.

There is a skill to backpacking, and we are still learning how to do it well and how to pack tightly. We try to take as little as possible because we must carry what we pack, which is why investing in a line of clothing that dries quickly, warms or cools during weather changes, and keeps us dry is important. 

    There are so many advantages to backpacking independently. It opens up opportunities to meet the locals, to struggle with the language, and to experience up close traditions and cultures of other countries.  It makes us realize that we don't need, but we can do with what we have...which is a way of life in many countries where we have traveled.  It's actually a good lesson of living with little for a while.

Keep Looking Up!

J:m and L:nda

    

    

  

How Did I Miss This?

 We are cleaning our trail runners, hiking boots and Tevas again, getting all the red trail dirt off. Removing the tiny stones that made their way into the tread of their soles.

December 2024, we traveled to Chile and Argentina to hike the small spine of the Andes Mountains that extends into the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. We had studied the unpredictable weather pattern of this summer month. Lots of rain, low misty clouds and even snow could make the rocks slippery and the trails muddy. While we have always felt sure-footed and our footwear is dependable, we weren't sure about the trails we had selected and hoped to hike in this new territory.

It was then that we got the idea to invite several friends to send us scriptures that related to "feet, agility, and balance." We did not want to stumble, fall or slip on the large boulders or steep climbs. In the front of my journal, I randomly recorded the scriptures received under a numbered day.   

Once we began our hiking days, I recorded a scripture connected to the numbered day from the front of my journal. Under Day 1, I had written Philippians 4:13 so I transferred that scripture to the top of my Day 1 journaling day and included it in our daily devotions.

God had known exactly which scripture would randomly be placed at the top of my journaling days. At the end of each day, we were amazed how perfectly that scripture given to us by friends had upheld us. 

One friend had given us Psalms 18:33, "He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains." That day, we hiked two very different trails and God's promise had kept us sure-footed. 

Another friend had given us Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." On the evening of this day, we boarded a Busbud coach at 3:30P from Chile to arrive in Argentina at 8:30P. God certainly ordered our steps that time and our stops, too. Did He know we needed rest? Our bus arrived 3 hours later in Argentina at 11:30P. He had ordered our steps to include stopping. 

Today, August 2025, I re-read the scripture from Psalms 119:105, randomly read on December 11, 2024: "Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."  How did I miss this? I had not noticed the two prepositional phrases, "for my feet" and "on my path."  December 2024, we had hiked the Grey Glacier tundra toward a small island. We started very early, almost alone. Once atop the mountain, gale winds blew in, actually bringing a heavy, grey cloud cover. We needed light in order to see the trailhead leading  back to the tundra. The scripture that morning had promised He would highlight our path. The winds blew the low clouds, allowing strips of sunlight to escape and light our path. That is what God had done for us. He reminded us today in 2025 as we read this scripture how He had made it real in 2024. 

Perhaps you are on a trail or a path and you do not want to stumble, fall or slip. Maybe you are tired and you need to stop and rest. His Word is the lamp that lights and leads the way. That's a sure-footed promise! 

Keep Looking Up!

J:m and L:inda